6 Cloves garlic -- minced
1 Lemon -- zest only
2 ts Cumin
1 tb Coriander
Salt and pepper
6 tb Olive oil
2 Chicken (4 lb each)
3 Lemon -- halved
8 Sprigs cilantro
Make a spice paste by combining the garlic, lemon zest, cumin,
coriander, salt, pepper, and halve the olive oil. Set aside. Preheat
the oven to 400. Remove the giblets from the package inside the
cavity of the chickens and scatter over the bottom of a large
roasting pan. Remove visible fat from around the cavities. Wash
inside and out and pat dry. Rub plenty of salt and pepper into the
walls of the cavitites. Run your fingers under the skin of the
breasts and legs of each chicken, gently separating it from the meat.
Rub the spice paste under the skin, coating as much of the meat as
you can reach. Rub the outside of the chicken, breast side down, in
the roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Turn the chickens breast
side up. Squeeze the lemons all over the chickens and stuff the empty
lemon halves into the cavities of the chickens along with the
cilantro sprigs. Reduce the oven temp to 350 and continue roasting
the chickens for another 1 1/2 hours. Let rest for 10 minutes before
carving. Cut chicken into thigh, drumstick, wing, breast half and
back sections. Serve 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs. Reserve 2
backs, 2 thighs and 4 wings for Lemon Chicken Couscous. Reserve at
least 1/2 cup drippings for Lemon Chicken Couscous.
